The Fine Art of Photography

“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”

― Karl Lagerfeld

In the beginning of the 21st century, we could count the number of diversified and professional photographers in Nigeria on our fingers. This number has seen some drastic improvement over the years and today, we now have a lot of photographers with different styles, and flourishing in different sectors of the field such as fashion, portrait, and conceptual photography, to mention but a few.

In all the beauty of photography these photographers put out, we would be appreciating all the time, thought, education and resources the conceptual photographer puts into making every project a piece of fine art. Conceptual photography is a type of photography that best illustrates an idea. An example in the earliest staged photographs is Hippolyte Bayard’s self-portrait as a Drowned Man (1840).

The names spotlighted would not be all the popular names in photography, but they would have your eyes nonetheless.

Ima Mfon

Who is Ima Mfon?

Ima is a Lagos based editorial and fine art photographer interested in exploring issues of social and

cultural identity. He also spends his time in the U.S. where he received his undergraduate degree

at the University of Texas and, later, a higher degree in digital photography at the School

of Visual Arts, New York.

His critically acclaimed project, Nigerian Identity, was featured on CNN and prints from this series

have been shown in several cities including Lagos, New York, San Francisco, Barcelona, and Milan. His

project was also exhibited during Art Basel, at the Miami Pulse Art Fair (2015).

Ima also periodically collaborates with Bloomberg, covering stories that showcase less reported

aspects of Nigerian culture, such as the thriving video game and Nollywood communities in

Lagos. Most recently Ima collaborated with Vice Sports UK, photographing a series of young

football players he encountered on the streets, and interviewing them to understand their

passion for the sport.

Ima was a recipient of the 2015 Lensculture Emerging Talents Award and at the esteemed Fotofest

portfolio review (2016) he received commitments for several solo exhibitions of the Nigerian Identity

series. Ima continues to work out of his home studio in Lagos, and operates under the Instagram handle @Ima_Mfon.

Chocolate

Untitled

What does photography mean to you?

To me, photography is a form of introspection. Each person produces from the abundance of his or her heart. So, by attempting to understand my mental and emotional processes, I’m able to create work. So, to me, photography is a quest to understand myself better.

Thompson Ekong

Who is Thompson Ekong?

I’m Thompson. S. Ekong, Visual Director of Baroque Age, in Nigeria, and I create visuals using ideologies we live out in our everyday lives. The understanding of humanity is my lust in art. Orchestrating this complexity that swings in the form of human emotion, our minds of curiosity, love, faith, spirituality, and our consciousness has led to so many innovative and creative things in our world. The more we have to give in our ongoing world of proving our black skin keeps me alive every day, being part of the culture and era currently being written down in history, our generation Z, living with the responsibility of taking these shots down visually as I spread not only my world abstractions but also tell the story of minds growing by creating a change. I’m inspired every day to be highlighted with this cause, it’s more profound than anyone can through comprehend. Curating ideas with the conglomerate Baroque Age, their subsidiaries, and other companies, working with the minds of our new age, I’m doing this For the Kids.

Trapped Soul

Echo

What does photography mean to you?

Taking down timelines of life with my digital and conscious lens aesthetically.

Noma Osula

Who is Noma Osula?

Noma Osula is a Lagos based photographer who recently gave in to his maniacal obsession for portraits and art photography. He maintains that Africa is a place rich with ideas and various artistic randomness which in time he has come to accept, embrace and create. Noma tries to maximize his African inﬂuence while mixing it up, making it urban and contemporary. “I’m just that guy who tries to incorporate everything he loves into his pictures, plus art has always been my darling”. He describes himself as “proudly Nigerian” and inspired by Nigerian culture. His artistic fervor is driven by integrating the impressions of the expressive combination of colors and textures, giving a fashionable form to the peculiar but awesome gestures of the people. Also, capturing the aesthetic of Africa’s emotionally overwhelming landscape is what drives him. You can follow his work on Instagram at @noma.o

What is photography to you?

It is my channel of expression. It is my voice. Its where I get lost and where I ﬁnd myself. Photography gives me the ability put all the abstracts I see and experience into one piece. It’s amazing how the output produces essence, which may or not be relative to everyone in the same way.

Terna Iwar

Who is Terna Iwar?

Terna Iwar is a Nigerian born fashion and fine art photographer currently residing in Abuja. His artistic practice centers around a deep appreciation of the human condition and its ever-transitionary nature. Drawing on his early exposure to the Tiv dance narrative and later immersion in western art history, his work never the less betrays a constant de-contextualization of themes and issues.

Terna Iwar studied Business Computing and Digital Media at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Ireland, where he was exposed to photography for the first time. Falling headlong into this alternate mode of expression he went on to complete a diploma in photography at the New York Film Academy.

He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Bantu Studio, a full-service photography studio and media production house and is also Co-Founder of Fashion Business Africa, an online publication delivering data driven, analytical and opinionated information on the fashion industry in Africa.

Exhibit A: Black Dance

Exhibit A: Black Dance

What is photography to you?

Photography is the story of life within a frame. It is less about what you see than how you see it.

Niyi Okeowo

Who is Niyi Okeowo?

Niyi Okeowo is a multidisciplinary creative focused on graphic design and photography. His main areas of interest in photography are Portraiture, Conceptual and Documentary photography.

What is photography to you?

Photography to me is a way of capturing moments you see as important, documenting important moments and preserving them for the future.

Lex Ash

Who is Lex Ash?

Chidi “Lex Ash” Ashimole is an all-round artist. As a visual artist, he is passionate about people, his work is inspired by how he feels and the people he meets and photographs. His pictures are consistent in evoking feelings and connecting with whoever sees it. He is about visual storytelling, art directing, poetry and natural aesthetics. His work has availed him the opportunity to inﬂuence the international community, and he hopes to be a major driving force in the recognition of Art in Nigeria and Africa. You can follow his work on Instagram at @thelexash

What is photography to you?

I’ve always believed art to be life. It’s how we feel, who we are, what we do. All of life is art, and Photography is to me a form of artistic expression. Photography is powerful. It can create ideas, preserve memories, inﬂuence decisions, compel actions and affect emotions. It has the power to bring the past to the present, to preserve the present for the future and to predict the future in the present. Photography means an opportunity; it means a privilege; it sometimes even means control and power. It means the ability to touch lives, to tell stories and to effect change. Photography to me means life.

Romeo Shagba

Who is Romeo Shagba?

I am a visual artist and Associate Creative Director at Bantu Studio currently based in Abuja, Nigeria. I studied Advertising Design at the University of Technology, Malaysia. I am a big fan of dramatic music, indulge a lot in long walks, observing the beauty surrounding me and occasionally marvel at the pure artistry of the blank white ceiling.

In the mist of all this “adventure” I find something called inspiration and that turns into the art I create. Put plainly, the urge to get all these thoughts out of my head drive me to create more of them.

Lessons in Emotions

What does photography mean to you?

Photography acts as an anchor to me, a medium in which my dreams and thoughts come to fruition.